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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 

THREE SPIRITS 



AND 



OTHER POEMS 



BY 



WEBSTER P. HUNTINGTON 



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1801 

Gazette Printing House 
Columbus O 



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Copyrighted by the Author 
iSqi 



DEDICATED 10 MY FATHER 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



The Three Spirits. .... 9 

The Gain of Living 33 

Art against Nature, .... 34 

To G. G. R 36 

The Deserted Homestead, ... 37 

Russia, 39 

To A , 41 

In the Cemetery at Norwich, . . .42 
To THE Baby. .... .4s 

To MY Mother's Portrait, . . .46 

W. D. W 48 

Rehoboam. . . . . . . .so 

The Author to his Critics. . . . si 



THE THREE SPIRITS 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 



Unknown to Reason or to Faith, 
Unsolved in prose or rhyme ; 

Hope's mockery, the scoff of Death — 
Thou mystery of Time I 

Who shall ex})lore tlie hi(hlcn path 
That man hath never trod ? 

Who tell the vanity of Earth, 
The majesty of God? 

Who can do this hut tliou, O Soul 
Immortal, loosed from clay ? 

Oil, tear the darkness from our eyes 
xVnd hless us with tlie day ! 

Soar to the heig'hts the angels know. 
And in thy boundless Higlit 

Beg of the Powers a single ray 

From the Fountainhead of Light. 



lo THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Entreat that tnitli may l)e revealed, 
That Hoi)e and Faith may rise, 

Till some prophetic s})irit ope 
The portal of the skies ! 



See! The veil asunder })arts! 

Swing wide the gates at last! 
And on the Dreamer's vision dawns 

The Spirit of the Past! 

THE DRHAMHR. 

Spirit of gladness, 

Spirit of woe, 
Spirit of sadness 

Man eannot know, 
Speak to the donhting heart, 

Counsel the brave ! 
Thou of all sj)irits art 

Al)l(' to save ! 

Scan with, your vision tlic path of tiu' years. 
Strewn with life's sorrows, bedewed with life's tears; 
Marked by the crosses of women and men 
Who never on earth shall raise them again. 



THE THREE SPIRITS. ii 

THE SPIRIT OF THE PAST. 

Peace, troubled lieart : I am an aged man — 
Too old to list to th}^ complaints or heed 
Thy phantasies. My age sits heavy on me 
And I oft haye wished that I miglit one day be 
A yictim of my sickle; l)ut to me 
Death iieyer comes. 

Yes, I am yery old. 
My locks, that in the morn of earthly things 
Did shame the })lnmage of the raven's wings, 
Are whitened with tiie tonch of Time ; my eyes, 
Once bright as histrous gems, are dim witii age ; 
I stroke my beard and falter in my step. 
Yet have 1 seen tlie strength of empires i>ass away; 
Have held witliin this outstretched hand the power 
To bless or to condenni ; to fill with hoi)e 
The heart cast down 1)y grief; the arrogance 
Of pride-encumbered men to blast; the thrones 
Of kings to overthrow; the power to deal 
To all humanity its weal or woe. 

Of Earth's mysterious gloom, when Cliaos reigned 
And brooding Night with })iercing eye descried 
Naught save perpetual darkness in the world, 
I knew the infancy. To me the birth 
Of mortal life within tlie universe 



12 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Was but the })layful time of budding youth. 
Thus live I still, caused by that great First Cause- 
The One ()iuiii[)()te]it — who at His will 
Brought sunlight out of darkness and displayed 
His own divinity to all mankind 
By planting deep witliin the human breast 
That tender instrument. (Jod's masterpiece, 
The Soul. 

The chosen i)eople of the world 
Wore out the dreary years of their first light 
Beneath my gaze. Their father, Abraham, 
In whom the truth divine first had its dawn, 
Whose mighty heart beat in the breast of him 
Who later on gave Law unto his race, 
Sped o'er his earthly course marked and observed. 
The passage of the Hebrew host I viewed, 
When Moses through the waste of desert land 
Led on the people of his God. The walls 
Of high Jerusalem had not been reared. 
When from the summit of tlie loftv clouds 
The fields of Palestine beneath my feet 
Lay basking in the glory of the sun. 

How followed on the footsteps of the Jews 
The inundation of the land with blood. 
Thou knowest ; how, when centuries rolled b}^. 
The love of sacrificial offerings, 



THE THREE SPIRITS. j 

So long indulged with bloody rites by priests 
Whose su})erstitions ruled the peevish age, 
Brought on a time when naught would satisfy 
A nation's craving, save that Innocence, 
Embodied in a sinless Man of Peace, 
Should be itself the last great sacrifice ! 
thou eternal scribe, who in the Heavens 
Dost keep man's record in the Book of Life, 
Blot from the compromising page the deed 
Of this misguided people and command 
That History shall be forever dumb ! 
Galilee, whose liquid surface felt 
The imprint of the Master's feet, be still ; 
Nor whisper to the flowers uj»on thy l)anks 
The fate of Him who walked above thy wave ! 
And Calvary, whose firm foundation groaned 
Beneath the weight of that uplifted cross. 
Whose soil gave to the sacred blood a grave. 
Seal thou thy li})s, as they did seal his tomb ! 

Dream on, unconscious soul, and to thy breast 
Grapple the fond delusions of thy life ! 
Time never dies: but that which measures time, 
The throb of human hearts, but for a day 
Put forth tiieir feeble efforts, and are lost. 
Nations may fall, and frcjm their crumbled dnst 
A hundred more may rise to power again ; 



14 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

And Man himself, his ho])es and fears, must shaie 

The dissolution of existing things. 

Yet in the Heavenly volume of the saints 

These poor events are but the })aragraphs 

That make the chapters in the Book of Life. 

What would'st thou save from out tlie wreck of Earth? 

(3f all the good that in thy heart doth dwell 

What would'st thou have in Heav'n made infinite? 

Ambition ? 'Tis a shining vanity 

That lures thee, then enchains thee, then deludes. 

Knowledge? Pause and comi)are thy boasted lore 

With the great mind tliat rules tlie universe. 

Love? Ah, this alone is the holy key 

Wherewith thou may'st unlock th' eternal gates I 

This is God's greatest boon to man — to love ! 

Whether it be on earth with human rites 

Or in the consecrated court of Heav'n. 

Hear my voice, my })arting benediction : 

Witliin thy spirit deep let Love abide ; 

And to the joys of immortality 

The angels, waiting, shall receive thy soul ! 



THE THREE SPIRITS. i^ 

Into the dark and boundless night 

The pliantom spirit fled. 
I heard the rustle of his robes 

Like tlie night-wind overhead, 
And the gentle cadence of his voice 

Seemed from the buried dead. 

Alone in the falling darkness, 

Alone — ni}^ soul and I ! 
Each dared not meet the other's glance, 

Each dared not live or die, 
While quaking at the ver}^ breeze 

That gently passed us by. 

How deep the silence of the hour, 

How long the shadows grew ! 
How ev'ry prayer that from the heart 

Was breathed to God anew 
Bore up its load of hope and fear 

As Heavenward it flew ! 

A pause, and to the open door 

Another form was led ; 
Approached, and o'er its thoughtful brow 

A frown, in passing, fled, 
While fixing on my face its gaze 

In accents clear it said : 



i6 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE PRESENT. 

I am the spirit of the Present. Hear 
My words, for I shall never reappear 
To give thee counsel. What I now may say, 
Preserve and act upon until that day 
When ev'ry soul shall its transgression own 
And reap the harvest as the seed is sown. 

To live is to exist for better things, 
Since Death, the transient visitor, but brings 
The spirit out of darkness into light, 
Adds glory to the day, dispels the night, 
Rebukes all that is evil and makes free 
The blessedness of immortality. 
Yet doth thy share in future bliss depend 
Upon the motives that do shape thy end. 
Fulfilment of thy <luty here l)elow 
Must be the test wherein thou art to show 
Thy fitness for the future state. For thee 
The spirit life is but a destiny. 
Choice of a certain i)lace whereto mankind 
Must come at last, is not of human mind. 
The narrow confines thou hast long been taught 
Do se})arate the dead who cheaply bought 
Salvation from such other sons of Earth 
As in the flesh ne'er tested virtue's worth, 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 17 

Exist in superstitious thought alone — 
To Reason false, to Justice quite unknown ! 
Hence thou art not of Heav'n or Hell at will ; 
The question with tliy soul is, AVilt thou till 
The spirit with the love that doth beget 
Eternal peace, or with a vain regret 
That, where thou dost surround a lesser si)here, 
Thou migh'st have known a ten-fold greater? Here 
Is the choice, which to make th}- soul conqiel. 
No bondage holds thee for a seat in Hell, 
For God thy free decision doth await — 
Wilt make thy futui'c compass small or great? 
Tlie Past is ])uried deep within the tomb 
Around whose walls th' impenetrable gloom 
Hath gathered like an everlasting night. 
No welcome beam, no ray of Heav'nly light 
Illumes the })ath tliat leads through endless ways 
Back to Creation and the world's first days. 
Deeds done and motives framed and thoughts con- 
ceived, 
And all tlie wik'S Avherewitli thou hast deceived 
Thy dormant conscience, to achieve its fall. 
Breed consequences thou canst not forestall. 
Repentence, in itself, availeth naught, 
Save as it lifts the soul by holy thought 
Up and beyond Earth's base and trifling things 



i8 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

And plumes the spirit with an angel's wings. 
Hard though it be, and bitter like the draught 
That on the iSIount of suffering was quaff'ed ; 
And agonizing as tlie lot of those 
Whom many pious men would fain suppose 
Are tortured witli eternal life in Hell — 
Doomed to be dannied forever wliere they dwell- 
Hard though it be, thy mind must meditate 
Upon this meaning plirase : To expiate. 
In the nature of the Heaveidy plan 
Provision is not made for sinning man 
To dodge ])etween God's justice and His love ; 
Tlie Law, conceiyed in ])erfeet truth above — 
Itself all that is merciful and just, 
Eternal, omnipotent and august — 
Is the sole criterion of tliy deeds. 
Administers to thy actual needs. 
Provides for living })uri)()se and a cause — 
In Heaven and on Earth the Law of laws! 
Since tiien the law, thougli merciful, is strict; 
Though granting nmcli doth never once conflict 
With tlie great mind that made it to the end 
That none might e'er evade it, none might bend 
Its tendency and pose as saints redeemed, 
When posing so they once again Ijlasphemed 
Against all right and truth ; since it is true 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 19 

That mercy in the Law is nothing new — 
A self-existent essential of it 
And not by nature one point above it — 
I bid thee know, ol)eyed its mercy stands 
Great as creation; but, its just commands 
Once broken, know no mercy, save therein 
Is consequence jiroportionate to sin. 
No human mind so weak but can detect 
The tendency of evil and reflect 
Upon its end ; and, so reflecting, know 
The expiation it must undergo ; 
For as to God the attributes belong 
Of all that is infinite, so of wrong- 
Committed 'gainst His laws, ihv consequence 
Is likewise inflnite for each ott'ence. 



THH DREAMER. 

Tben, Spirit, speak! Wliy hast thou promised 
me 
A new abode? Doth inimortality, 
Dispensed by God witli such a lavish hand, 
Grant naught but woe eternal and expand 
The limit of my agony and pain, 
Till ages countless as the drops of rain 
That fall from Heaven's vault seem but a day 



20 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Lost ill the tliglit of time? Is he astray 
From holy trutli who in his lieart believes 
That in some future state the soul retrieves 
(Somewhat of error and mistake indulged 
Ere to his i)uny mind hath been divulged 
His destiny, the secret of his fate? 
Doth God grant knowledge only when too late? 
8peak, I em})lore tliee, though the speaking cost 
The ])ain of certainty that I am lost! 

THE SPIRIT. 

Thy doubts, born not of tliought, but sudden 
fear. 
Before the liglit of trutli must disappear 
As overwhelming darkness fades and dies 
Wlien morning's sun illumes the eastern skies; 
And in the glory of tlie new-born light 
Thy mind's awakening shall be as bright 
As budding dawn unfolding to full bloom, 
Or ray from lieav'n, dispelling endless gloom ! 

Have I not sai<l that in the realm from wlience 
Thy soul did'st emanate, the consequence 
Of evil deeds and God's law disobeyed 
Sliall be in honest measure truly weighed 
Witli thy ill conduct and thy conscious guilt? 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 21 

Thy faith, upon the firm foundation built 
Of perfect confidence in love divine, 
Should yield conception of (iod's great design. 
Of life innnortal tlie celestial breath 
Was not breathed in thee that a living death 
Through all eternity should be thy lot — 
Accursed in Hell and upon Earth forgot. 
This bear in mind : Eternal law is just ; 
It sanctifies no sin, nor doth it tlirust 
A saintliness upon a few elect. 
And in the act all other souls reject ; 
It ])rovides no Innocent's sacrifice 
To insure the guilty in Paradise ; 
But sternly speaks, in accents clear and strong, 
" Let him fear no evil who knows no wrong." 
The distant future thou canst not define ; 
The Past is dead — the Present, only, thine. 
Tlien gras}) it while it lingers, ere it fades 
Into that silent depth where grieving shades 
Bend mourning o'er the grave of wasted time. 
I see the mighty spectacle — sublime 
And infinitely sad. The deejxlrawn sighs 
Of spirits wee})ing o'er the spot where lies 
Lost IIo})e, with Love and fair Aml)ition near — 
All tliat we hold in life's sweet hour most dear — 
Are waftecl to me on the midnight air. 



22 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Nothing but tears and vain regret is there ! 
And wilt thou, too, hiy in that silent grave 
The qualities that God in kindness gave, 
That thou niight'st hear in life a noble })art 
And in eternity a hai>})y heart ? 
Beware ! Existence is no })altry tiling : 
It hath an ecjual power to bless and sting. 

Thou hast heard. Let, then, thine attentive ear 
With e([ual earnestness incline to liear 
The whispered counsels uf thy inmost soul : 
Give Conscience in all things conn)lete control ; 
Make it the ruler o'er thy mind's domain, 
.Vnd like the music of some Heavenly strain 
Whose gentle harmony, low, sweet and clear. 
Pervades the universal atnjosphere. 
Until the baser senses feel the spell 
Of influences, they can not re})el. 
Its guiding voice shall cause to fall inert 
Thy wrong i)ropensities, and shall assert 
Its wondrous })0wer to keep thee undefiled 
Till thou with Goil in peace art reconciled. 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 23 

So saying, witli a silent tread, 

Like one who walks amongst the dead 

In some secluded burying ground ; 
Or as a thoughtful priest might pace 
The corridors of some holy place, 

Betrayed not by a single sound ; 
The Spirit fleet in soft retreat 

Glided into the great Unknown, 

While whispered the breeze in an undertone, 

" A vision seen, a vision tlown ! " 

Seen, and forever unforgot ! 

Flown, yet around the hallowed spot 
Where stood the Spirit a moment since. 

As a rose its sweetness doth distil, 

There lingered then and always will 
A consciousness to all-convince 

Th' uncertain mind, by doubt made blind, 
That One had l)een there who had graced 
The courts of Heaven and embraced 
The joy of all things pure and chaste! 

Thus musing on the strange {)ortent 
Of ev'ry wonderful event 

That })assed before me like a dream, 
I caught tlie sound of voices singing — 
Now softlv sweet, now loudlv riup-ina- — 



24 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

That to the list'ning ear did seem 
A Heav'nly strain, a glad refrain, 
Bearing tlie ecstaey of bUss 
Of those in a fairer world than this 
Who living had done least amiss. 

As, gazing into the Promised Land 

A soul on the verge of Heav'n might stand, 

Hearing the music of the spheres, 
I paused, my heart two worlds between,' 
And heard a hymn of powers unseen — 

Tlie harmony of untold years. 
And this is the song th' angelic throng 
Sang of the triumphs of sacrifice 
And telling of One who should arise 
To speak the glories of I^aradise ! 



THE CHANT OF THE ANGELS. 

Eternal God ! Thou Perfect One alone 

Of all who bow the knee before Thy throne — 

Father of all— 
Thou wlio didst think, and with the thought evolve 
Th' material universe, and dissolve 
The sweets of life within the soul of man; 

We do recall 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 2^ 

The wondrous mercy of Thy mighty plan 
Conceived ere otlier life than Thine began ! 

And dost Thou now to favors multiplied 
Like grains of sand upon the wild sea-side 

Year after year, 
Add this last token of Thy tender love 
For erring Man, who didst Thy pity move 
When i)ierced him first of deadly sin the fang ; 

Wlien the first tear, 
The crystal symlx)! of liis grief, o'ersprang 
Its bounds, the sad betrayer of a })ang? 

Speed the Si)irit on Heav'nly mission sent ! 
Haste his departure, strengthen his intent ! 

Cause Earth to know 
Tliat Truth and Love survive and Mert'y })leads, 
Though oft the heart, stricken and wounded, bleeds^ 
Shuddering that no helper lifts the veil 

Of endless woe ! 
O Father, let Thy messenger })revail. 
Teaching that laith in Thee can never tail ! 



26 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

THE SPIRIT OF THE FUTURE. 

Seeker of truth, who after righteousness 
Doth hunger and thirst as mortality 
Longetli for tliat which is infinite, Peace ! 
Thou who dost meditate on sacred themes, 
Communing with anotlier liigher world 
Whose spirit forms, on wondrous errands sent, 
Appear before thee and their counsels give 
Of holiness, of virtue and of love ; 
Thou mortal, first in liistory, for whom 
Time, backward turning from his onwar<l course, 
Lets fall his secrets from his 8})irits' lips ; 
Who sees the past revealed and hears proclaimed 
The necessities of the present hour, 
As Heav'n gives welcome to the wandering soul 
Greets thee the day of thy enlightenment ! 

I come, apostle of the living truth, 
Prophet of things that shall be, exponent 
Of things that are and have been. Dost thou hear 
An echo from the distant land, a sound 
Of great rejoicing, as Solomon heard 
Immortal psalms, sung by a thousand tongues. 
Resounding in the temple of the Jews? 
It is the deep, celestial harmony 
Of angels breathing worship to their God. 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 27 

And thou, too, in the hour that sets thee free. 

When on thy wondering gaze there breaks the dawn 

Of an eternal day, niayst be of them. 

Thy voice may join with tlieirs when Heaven peals 

With the glad praises of the King of kings ; 

And sliaring in their song, so mayst thou share 

Their best eonce})tions and their destiny — 

To know tlie sweet repose of perfect peace ; 

Not ecjually with each comj^anion soul. 

But to thy uttermost. 

Yet here awhile 
In the brief season that men call Life, 
Ere Earth reclaims the graceful form she gave 
And manly beauty yields to loathsome dust ; 
While still the soul clings to its mortal home. 
Looks calmly from thy eyes, and on thy l^row 
Reflects the light of its ow^n purity ; 
Here, now in sorrow, now in hap})iness, 
In joy and grief, through tears and })leasant .smiles, 
Shalt thou live on the life allotted thee. 

If blind to truth, seek not to see all things ; 
The tired brain must needs abjure its thought. 
If Reason satisfy thee not, beware ! 
For where the Reason falters there comes Doubt, 
Thrusting his base deceptions in thy path. 
While Faith is left to die upon the way. 



28 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Ask not, then, why thou livest, if to think 
Of hving be a toil ; gird up thy faith. 
And it shall all suffice, as at the feast, 
Though little be consumed, thou hast thy till. 

Yet, if thou canst conceive the primal cause 
Whence spring the germs of life, the massive bulk 
Of tlie great material universe 
And all the myriad spirit forms that live. 
Some seen of mortal eyes and millions more 
Beyond the dark, impenetrable veil 
That screens what is to come from that which is ; 
Conceive thyself a part of God Himself, 
The incarnation of His thought divine ; 
Living, because He lives, thougli all-endowed 
With power of shaping thine own destiny. 
Thou canst be what thou wilt ; not in a da}'. 
But in the end ; for death is but a change. 
In which we hear the sweet and tender words 
Of those who, standing on the fartlier shore. 
Beckon us on with kind and gentle smile. 
Bidding us be of courage, since we come 
Into their midst with welcome everywhere. 
So shalt thou share their struggles and their hopes- 
A tearful witness when some spirit falls. 
But joyful when he rises ; thus thy life. 
Like theirs, shall be of progress and of love — 



THE THREE SPIRITS. 29 

Bright as the morning sun, though oft tlie clouds 
Dim its refulgent beams and cast a gloom 
Over the landscape of thy fondest dreams. 

Be thou always resolute ; bear thyself 
Not too exulting, but with dignity 
Born of the spirit's knowledge of its end ; 
As one who on his person doth sustain 
The signs of perfect confidence and hope. 
Hold not too lightly in thy mind's esteem 
The trials death will open unto thee ; 
Nor yet affect unreasonable fear 
Of what the future may contain for thee. 

Dreamer, thou livest in a time and age 
When wicked phantoms of a cruel fate, 
Long taught thee to be waiting for thy death, 
Are falling, one by one. Beyond recall 
Many are lost and buried in the Past, 
As many more shall be ; they are dead. 
Unwept, unheeded, and almost forgot. 
Let none alarm thee with a well-wrought tale 
Of an eternal punishment in store 
For disbelievers in a certain creed 
Or scorners of a most uncertain faith. 
Severe will be thy expiation, true ; 
And infinite, but not forever laden 
With a crushing, ceaseless pain, greater tenfold 



JO THE THREE SPIRITS. 

Than sin could merit at the hands of God. 
Surely thou knowest one may suffer nuich 
And yet not heed. Yesterday I sinned ; 
To-day the pangs of vain remorse possess 
My every sense ; to-morrow, or as years 
Like fleeting dreams pass by, I have forgot 
That I have sinned at all ; nor is the least, 
The smallest weight of consequence removed 
Or blotted from my deepest heart thereby ; 
For as 'tis true that mortal suffering 
Is often measured b}^ its falling short 
Of that which constitutes true happiness, 
Rather than by tliat which seems its deepest woe, 
So in the land that lies beyond the grave 
The lines of consequence are visible 
More clearly to the holier spirit's eye 
Than to the sinner who indulged the sin. 
The great Creator has but made his law, 
That justice cannot be revenge, and sin 
Shall its atonement earn, of such a kind 
As ev'ry soul is given strength to bear. 

Man cannot ask for more tlian he is given. 
Endowed with that creative faculty 
Of mind and heart that shows a handiwork 
Wrought by Omnipotence, and conceived 
In the very ecstacy of jDower 



THE THREE SPIRITS. v 

For a destiny higher than decay; 

And with his promised immortaUty 

Displayed u])on his ontward, worldly self, 

As if his Maker's genius sought to prove 

The argument of the soul's existence 

To the world — thus made from God's own spirit 

And formed as one whose soul can conquer Death, 

Man is the masterpiece of creation. 

And rarest and most priceless of the gifts 

That in him bear fruition to his soul, 

Are those two gems of immortality ; 

Faith, Hope. 

As dew upon the tinted rose, 
Or rain on tender vegetation falls, 
So these congenial kindred qualities 
Refresh whate'er in spirit life they touch. 
Then slight not these to make thyself more strong 
In things that will inure less to thy good ! 
Earth hath no comforter, nor Heav'n a boon 
Such as was given thee when in thy breast 
Faith had its birth and Hope first sprang to life. 
Thou wouldst not lose thy memory, nor think 
To profit by the loss of health or limb, 
And yet, through heedless scorn and long disuse 
Of gifts bestowed to elevate thee most, 
Wouldst suft'er such to languish in decav 



32 THE THREE SPIRITS. 

And leave thee helpless in thy vaunted strength. 

Faith is the deep, wide harbor of tlie soul, 
Where the wear}' mariner, long at sea, 
Feasts liis deliglited eyes upon the shore. 
And satisfied that all is safe and well, 
Sinks, like the waves receding, to his rest ; 
And Ho^^e, the star of promise in the skies. 
Casts one last beam upon his prostrate form. 



I had but dreamt. Yet as I woke 
Methought I heard a voice that spoke, 
And in the stillness of the night 
Pronounced an admonition — "Write! 
What thou hast lieard comes from above. 
For I AM God and ' God is Love ! ' " 



^^S- 



OTHER POEMS. 33 



The Gain of Living. 

Think not that in one life's completed span 
There is less joy than sorrow ; were it so 

Then all that live were underneath the ban 
Of that mysterious shadow, which doth throw 
A strange, odd darkness over all below 

That doth possess in life's First Cause no shnre; 
For, since existence takes its peaceful flow 

From rising in the Infinite, the heir 

Of such divinity must fitly bear 

The imprint of his Maker's blessedness. 

Thus ev'ry soul is born not to despair, 

But hath its meed of pleasure, more or less; 

And though its earthly flight be high or low, 

It hath more cheer than grief, more joy than woe. 



'■^^ 



34 OTHER POEMS. 



Art against Nature. 

When some great painter a grand work essays, 
Puts brush to canvass in a lofty theme 

Of clouds or sky or sunlight's piercing rays, 

The world must pause to note each golden gleam 

And sing the artist's everlasting praise. 

Each touch of art tliat makes tlie picture true, 
Each line that shows the present master hand, 

Each fleeting cloud hard striving to subdue 
The glancing sliafts of light shot o'er the land ; 

Each color blending with the ay.ure ])lue, — 

Each mark of genius — is proclaimed to mean 
A thought that life from inspiration draws. 

The critics haste to criticism keen. 
And wonder and exclaim, because 

A man hath pictured forth so fair a scene. 

But when th' eternal God in outlines pure 
Reveals the dome of Heaven overhead, 

To charm the soul, the senses to allure, 
Man, only to the artificial bred, 

What he might well adore can scarce endure. 



OTHER POEMS. 33 

So often the best things in life we see 

Hardly to remark, almost to ignore ; 
The gifts least loved are those God makes most free, 

And bounteous Nature, yielding up lier store, 
Receives the tlianks of heartless apathy. 



■^^m^ 



36 OTHER POEMS. 



To G. G. R. 

When memory lightens the effort of thinking, 
And prompts one's ansterity so to unbend 

That a ghiss of good wine is worth}- the drinking, 
'Tis sweetest to drink to the heaUh of a friend. 

So, Ruggles, let never the bowl be forbidden 
That promises closer our friendship to knit ;. 

'T were rarest of vintage if in it were hidden 
A taste of thy humor or spark of thy wit. 

If asked once of thee. Is life worth the living? 

The need for an answer could hardly ai)pear ; 
'Tis found in the fact of thy constantly giving 

Some pleasure to others who know thy good cheer. 

For knowing, 'tis written, is surely believing, 

And what better knowledge, indeed, can there be 

Than that given those who have long been receiving 
The proofs of the manhood that dominates thee? 

Like the stream that thou lovest descending the 
mountain, 

Refreshing the fields in its fall from on high, 
Thy life and its sunshine is drawn from a fountain 

As clear as the light it reflects from the sky. 



other poems. 37 

The Deserted Homestead. 

Lonely, forsaken, desolate it stands, 

Jts sombre outline carved against the sky ; 

Unbroken solitude envelops all, 

Save for the wild bird's shrill, discordant cry. 

The bay of hunters' hounds on distant hills, 
The music of the winds or noisy flow 

Of waters rushing on in pebbly rills. 

'Twere sweet, if not so sad, to feel thy spell, 
Deserted homestead ! The quickening heart 

Thy solemn grandeur wakes to solemn things ; 
Impulsive recollections swiftly dart 

Through sympathetic minds, as thy impress 
Is sealed upon the memory of those 

Who contemplate thy passing loneliness. 

The rank weed grows in ruthless wantonness 

Where once the feet of children pressed the stones ; 

The hush of Death is on the chamber walls 
Tliat echoed long ago their happy tones. 

The loathsome spider weaves a silken net 

Where once the watchful, prudent housewife 
reigned 

And rose above her sorrow and resfret. 



j8 OTHER POEMS. 

The sun that smiled upon thee years ago, 
In those long past, almost forgotten days, 

Is still the same unchanging visitor ; 

The same moon's silvery, calm and steadfast rays 

Still light the trellis where the grapevines climb ; 
The same breeze stirs the leaves to gentle sighs 

As lulled the meadows in the olden time. 

But those who knew the countless peaceful charms 
That Nature set around thee, all are gone ! 

The graveyard on the hillside tells the tale 

Of how the Earth has claimed them, one by one; 

And the old homestead, that after all survives. 
Doth seem to speak unto the thoughtful mind 

The simple lesson of their sim})le lives. 



*5A/ 



'X-:®:x< 



OTHER POEMS. 39 



Russia. 



Land of the Autocrat and slave! 
Land of the royal, scei)tercd knave, 
If kings have ruled by right divine, 
Then cursed be God, who gave thee thine 
Then Heav'n is Hell and virtue vice ; 
Then hate for love may well suffice ; 
Then honesty is so uncouth 
That foul corruption mocks at truth ! 

Were dread Siberia's- bloody soil 
In travail with maternal toil, 
Like some huge monster giving birth 
To monsters, from the depths of earth 
Each long drawn out and labored groan 
Would pierce thee on thy gilded throne, 
O Emperor ! From filthy mine 
Where imps erect a grimy shrine 
To worship Satan and the Czar ; 
In dungeon cells that i)eei) of star 
Or ray of sun lias never blest. 
Thy victims' souls might break their rest 
And fly from every slimy lair 
To catch thee in a grewsome snare! 



40 OTHER POEMS. 

From silent tombs and depths remote 
The bones of those thy anger smote — 
Who in the flesh thy grace implored — 
To such misshapen forms restored 
As most to fright thee, might arise 
To rend thy heart, to l)last thine eyes ! 

O evil mockery ! () shame 
Of all mankind ! A Prince's name 
Is greater than a peoi)le's life ! 
An armed host prepared for strife, 
A throne by slavery vipheld 
The forces of an Empire weld ; 
And over all is born to rule 
A graceless tyrant, oi* a fool ! 

Speed, tardy justice, speed the hour 
When Vengeance may his prey devour; 
Let royal blood in torrents pour, 
If Czars and despots reign no more ! 



OTHER POEMS. 41 



To A- 



A FRAGMENT. 

Thy mind and mine have followed in the course 
Of pure and holy love, that takes its way 
Over all obstacles tliat interpose 
To block the })ath of passions less divine. 
In sorrow I have loved thee, and tliou me; 
In joy and gladness, too, we were as one, 
When passing clouds obscured the hap})y sk}', 
Or, shifting, did disclose the burning sun. 
As in the tirmauient tlie })eaceful stars 
Give forth the radiant light of Heaven 
Like looks from angels' eyes ; as thro' the wood 
The constant stream winds heedless of its course, 
So hath our love been — intinite in change, 
Like fleeting seasons' rounds, but always blest. 
Through all the strange vicissitudes of life 
I ne'er have loved thee but with all my heart : 
With all my strength and mind, with all my soul : 
So do I love thee still, and ever shall — 
Forever and forever.- 



42 OTHER POEMS. 



In the Cemetery at Norwich. 

In ev'ry soul there is a tender strain 

That wakes and echoes, when the hand of Time 
Draws from the heart a mikl and sweet refrain 

That rises from some memory subUme. 

So liave I feh-, when drawn by pensive thought 
My footsteps' l)ore me from the hillside down, 

Midst massive rocks that years have never wrought 
A change in, to the graveyard of tlie town, 

That quaint and ancient village of the hills, 

Where my forefathers, wandering, first took heed 

It was a lovely spot, free from the ills 

That they had tied — a i)lace (jf rest, indeed. 

For these were men of sucli heroic mould 

As feared no outward danger, shunned no toil ; 

The liberty of conscience more tlian gold 
Tliey strove to find on new and untried soil. 

What was to them tlie forest's loneliness, 
If thought were free and persecution past ; 

If tyranny ceased longer to oppress, 

And life endured witli lionor to the last? 



OTHER POEMS. 43 

To seek the trutli where they thought most to find ; 

To worship God as tliey conceived it best, 
And teach the priceless lesson to mankind, 

Was all the sim))le mission of their quest. 

The trackless })lain should know the reaper's blade, 
The hard rock yield its wealth of treasured store, 

And boundless woodland's dark, forbidding shade 
Should hide the ])osom of the earth no more. 

The startled breeze that bore the warrior's cry, 
And bound the ears that heard it with a spell. 

Should serve instead with each delicious sigh 
The tranquil victory of peace to tell. 

The spot that marked the wild l)east's hidden lair 
Sliould blossom as a garden decked with tiow'rs, 

Where mothers' eyes might note with tender care 
The happy flight of children's })layfui hours. 

With such a purpose tliese bold pioneers 
Braved all that evil Fortune might ordain : 

Too nol)le to retreat, too stern for tears. 
They never learned to falter or complain. 

How well their work was done the years' swift flight 
Hath proven unto us who follow them ; 



44 OTHER POEMS. 

How well tliey lal)ore{l in the cause of Right, 
And gave to Freedom's crown its brightest gem. 

No eidogv can add nnio their fame, 

Nor praise their sim[)le merit magnify ; 

In death they leave no heritage of shame. 
But rather teacli us liow to live and die. 

Thus here they share at last the connnon lot 
Of all wlio earn from earthly cares release; 

Their privilege within this grassy plot 
To know the rest of everlasting peace. 

O God inscrutable, if Thou didst speak 
And call them from this city of the dead, 

In mercy send their s}tirits to the weak, 
Who need l)y their example to be led. 



-►^i 



OTHER POEMS. 45 

To THE Baby. 

Child of tlic iHoiMiiiig, whence coiiiest thou here, 
With a gasj) and a .struggle, a sob and a tear — 
From the North, from the South, from the East, from 

the West, 
Nestled close in her arms on the fond mother's breast ? 
Hast thou come from the realm of the Silent Un- 
known ? 
The journey is long — didst thou come all alone? 

Thine eyes are as blue as the waves of the deep, 

Thy brow is as fair as an angel's in sleej) ; 

Thy skin is as soft as the velvety down 

Of the flowers that bloom 'neath a sunshiny crown. 

Who sent thee? Who marked thee for Earth and its 

woe, 
Its joy and its sorrow? — Canst tell? — Dost thou 

know ? 

Sweet child, tliere is knowledge that passeth our ken ; 
There is wisdom not given the children of men. 
We grope in tlic (hirkness like slaves of tlie night; 
Our lancy is folly — we know not its flight. 
Thou art come, thou art gone; whether distant or 

near, 
We only can know thee how precious, how dear! 



46 OTHER POEMS. 



To MY Mother's Portrait. 

O gentle jtortrait of that gentler face, 
So marked by all the sweetest gifts that grace 
The woman's countenance, the mother's heart. 
Do thou such temper to thy son impart 
That M'ell he may his humble efforts raise 
To add new lustre to thy shining praise ! 
Blest, had he known tlie kind maternal care 
Which more than tinite wisdom })lanted, where 
The seed might grow in hearts made but to love- 
At lengtli to l)lossom in the tields above ! 
Sweet were the lessons to be learned from thee, 
Had God in merc}^ willed it so to be ; 
Hadst thou not entered on that other state 
Where mortal eyes may never penetrate. 

But ha})})y still the lot of him whose mind 
Can trace thee, in the regions undefined; 
Whose faith may pierce the false, deceptive glare 
i)i Earth's i)Oor honors, and behold thee where 
The weary soul casts off its heavy load. 
To cross the threshold of the blest abode. 
Thus often in the calm and })eaceful night, 
When grosser cares are wont to fade from sight 



OTHER POEMS. 47 

And vacant shadows on the wall appear — 

Earth fleeing fast, and Heaven drawing near — 

I on the border of the Future stand, 

And, awe-struck, view thee in the promised land ; 

While, as I see thy glory in the sky, 

I know, indeeil, the soul can never die. 

80 would 1 live thy i)ure and blameless life 
That, when I view my Past, it may seem rife 
With righteous deeds and holy thoughts, as thine ; 
That Love within the Present may be mine ; 
That Truth to me the lesson may impart 
To meet the Future with a steadfast heart. 



48 OTHER POEMS. 



W. D. W. 

A man of such .sur})as,siiig grace 

That kings might envy his address ; 

Wliose acts for ev'ry time and i)lace 
A perfect fitness do possess ; 

A man of pure and ready wit 

Whose shafts are free from poisoned stain, 
But strike Avhere they are aimed to hit 

And leave no rancor and no pain : 

A nian of sucli unselfisli heart. 

Of mind so lofty and serene, 
Who knoweth manhood more than art 

And hath no unclean thought to screen ; 

A man of patience strangely rare, 
Forgiving, gentle, kind and just ; 

Bold in the right, but swift to spare, 
(^uick to uphold, slow to distrust : 

A stranger to unseemly pride 

Or affectation's poor deceit : 
In sorrow and affliction tried. 

He drank the bitter and the sweet. 



OTHER POEMS. 49 

A man of such superior mould 
As all that's base soars far above ; 

Who daily doth some charm unfold 
To win a fiiend's unselHsh love. 

That is a friend of mine. — His name? 

Ah, that is not for me to tell. 
If tliou hast known liim, his fair fame 

Will teach thee that thou know'st it well. 



— i^f:®:-)^ 



50 OTHER POEMS. 



Rehoboam. 

II CHRONICLES, XI, 2\-2}. 

Good Rehoboam was a king 

Who reigned in days of yore ; 
His household numbered " eighteen wives," 

And " concubines threescore." 

For 'twas a custom honored then, 

More oft, indeed, than now, 
For kings and courtiers to take 

A fre(|uent marriage vow. 

And this kind of extravagance 

Was sometimes overdone, 
So that a man with consorts ten 

Oft wislied for only one. 

But Keholxjam, we are told, 

" Desired many wives ; " 
And that they rued it or complained 

No evidence survives. 

And thus the king, so Scripture .saith, 

" Dealt wisely " many years ; 
And when he died he well deserved 

His eighteen widows' tears. 



OTHER POEMS. 5/ 



The Author to his Critics. 

Criticise with ini})unity, 
Scan with particuhirity ; 

Now is your opportunity 
To mitigate the rarity — 

So marked in each community — 
Of truly C'hristian charity ! 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

IliillllllilM 

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